Editor: Jack Sroft

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The night has passed and Shin is currently stretching on the rooftop of the inn. He didn’t know this little place until the lady by the reception desk told him about it. She said that it is a great spot to watch the sunrise. It’s only 6am and strangely he woke up early. A while ago, he saw that the two girls were still sleeping so he left them as they were.

Because the location of the inn is in an elevated area on the north side of the city, all it takes to watch the entirety of the city, was to power up his feet and jump a hundred feet above. Overnight rest helped his mana regenerate to full capacity, so there is nothing to worry about from mana depletion. In addition, buff skills take less mana than the offensive ones.

He only bent his knees a little as he buffed himself up with the help of magic, especially on his feet. With his hands on his pocket, Shin jumped for about hundred meters straight up effortlessly.

The chilly feeling of the morning gently touched his face. As he opened his eyes, what he saw amazed him.

Houses of various sizes, people taking a morning stroll, shop keepers opening their stores… all of them were visible, but what took his interest the most, was the castle that was built in the center of the city.

Its sheer size took up almost 40% of the entire city. Even when standing at the gate the castle is visible, but as he looked at it in a different perspective or in a bird’s-eye view, the scene was incredible. The structure‘s design resembled like that of the Lord of the rings, but on a larger scale. Its silvery appearance radiated even more as the light of the rising sun struck it.

As he started descending, he looked to where he would land and saw there was a girl near the entrance door of the rooftop holding a cup while looking for something or someone.

He landed gently on the rooftop of the inn. Since he appeared out of nowhere, the girl was surprised almost tipping off the cup.

“Good morning Yuffa. Oh... Thank you.” Shin greeted Yuffa as he took the cup she offered to him.

“That scared me. W-Where did you come from Shin-sama?”

“*sip* ...above. How did you find me?”

“H-huh... Um Mrs. Ellen told me.”

“Mrs. Ellen? Who is she?”

“She is the lady at the counter. She owns this inn.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“So Shin-sama, what are your plans today?”

Shin sipped his tea while pondering for a moment.

“I was planning to go to the Guild and be an official adventurer. What about you Yuffa?”

“Well... I am Shin-sama’s servant technically, so I will go where Shin-sama goes.”

“True but even if you are, I don’t plan to restrict you or where you go. In fact, if you want a new life, I could give it you.”

As Shin lets out those words, Yuffa grasped her chest tightly. For some reason, something’s prickling her heart. She thought that what Shin said wasn’t the same as she imagined so she asked him in rather scared feeling.

“What do you by that Shin-sama?”

“Well, I hired you in spur of the moment because I don’t want you two to risk your life out there. Now that you two are safe, I feel relieved now and—”

“Where you going with this Shin-sama? Are you perhaps letting us go? You don’t want us anymore?”

Before Shin could even finish his words, he was interrupted by Yuffa who asked him successive questions with a sad voice. He was kind of surprised from her reaction. It was different as he expected. He thought she would be happier now that she is free.

“Of course, not. It was very convenient for me. Like this that you brought me tea. I don’t have to walk 4 floors to get one. Truthfully, it was fun having a companion. It’s just that I feel like I’m hindering you and Tanya on the things that you wanted to do, so was thinking about letting you go.”

“I don’t want that!”

“!”

Shin almost jumped in shock at Yuffa’s sudden outburst. He was sipping his tea while conversing with Yuffa and it resulted in almost spilling all of its contents.

Realizing what she had just said, her eyes widened as she covered her mouth.

Why did I say that!?

Even Yuffa didn’t know why she shouted like that. All she knew, was that thinking about Shin walking away made her feel somewhat complicated. She just recently met Shin and barely knew him so reacting like that wasn’t normal. But one thing she knew for sure is that Shin is different from all the guys she ever met. This feeling of security when she is with him, Yuffa never felt it before. The thought of Shin leaving scared her.

*siiiiiiip*

Shin finished his tea in one go as he recovered from initial shock.

“I-I’m very sorry Shin-sama. How rude of me.” Yuffa bowed apologetically.

“O-oh...” he vaguely answered looking troubled what to say.

He then continued.

“So, you want to continue working for me?”

“If you permit us to. I-I know that I am being unreasonable. It’s just that we don’t have anywhere else to go or people that we know. We don’t know who to trust too.”

“Does that mean you trust me?”

“I can’t put it into words but I really get the feeling that Shin-sama is good person”

For a moment, Shin was about to laugh but seeing Yuffa said it sincerely, he chose not to. That would be insensitive of him.

Her circumstance might made Shin put in the good side. Although he doesn’t mind it he still feels this girl is too trusting. Well, I was sent here for a reason. Having a companion is very favorable for me. Not to mention I have my personal maid(lol). said Shin in his mind.

“Well that works for me.”

“R-really? Thank you very much Shin-sama. I will do anything just for you.” Yuffa said happily with a small tear flowed in the corner of her eye.

If what Yuffa said was directed to another person more specifically on other male, it must’ve triggered something on their mind but Shin only took her words on a face value. The words “I will do anything” don’t mean anything to him, other than he can order her to do errands and menial tasks.

“So let’s go?”

“Yes!”

Shin started walking down to the stairs. On the other hand, Yuffa looked at back of walking Shin then bowed. Underneath it was the brightest smile she ever had.

***

After they descended, they picked Tanya who was already awake and headed on the first floor. There they meet Mrs. Ellen who greeted them good morning, and then offered them breakfast.

After they finished, Shin asked Mrs. Ellen where the guild was and she instructed him on where it was located in the city. Afterwards, they immediately headed to where the Guild building is. Along the way, they stopped by various stores because Tanya was drooling every time she looked at the fruits.

She just had a breakfast but this girl still had some leeway to eat plenty more. You know what they say, there is always room for desert. Yuffa apologized to Shin for Tanya’s behavior but he didn’t mind it one bit.

Shin also bought clothes for himself and the girls. Yuffa and Tanya were very thankful to him. Yuffa was even shedding tears when she wore the clothes that weren’t covered in dirt and grime. The shop owner asked what was the problem but Shin only had a wry smile and looked away.

Also, Shin just learned the currency of this world, 100 coppers equals 1 silver, and 100 silvers equals 1 Gold. The room they rented on the inn was 2 silvers. Thinking about it, living here was pretty cheap. The food, shelter and clothing are very affordable in this city.

Wait, does that mean I’m rich? Shin thought after considering his recent expenses. He only spent 10 silvers all in all. But he decided to think about it later. He has to take his first priority first, and that is to be an official adventurer.

After about 15 minutes of walking, they arrived at the Guild building. It was a fair distance from the inn.

The Guild HQ looks like an ordinary building. It even has a part that looks like a café. But the difference was that on the outside, there were a bunch of people chatting with weapons on their waists or on their backs. Tough-looking people were everywhere, men and women mixed together, but the majority of the adventurers were men.

“Hoh~” Shin was awestruck.

He then proceeded to the entrance of the building. Strangely enough, everyone was looking at them, or more specifically at Yuffa.

*whistles*

Some of the boys even whistled.

This made Yuffa uncomfortable. To her, it felt like she walked into a tiger’s den that was filled with men, so she sticking close to Shin. She was practically clinging to Shin’s arm and her chest was on his shoulder while walking with her hands wrapped around him. It made it slightly difficult for him to walk.

“…I’m scared Shin onii-chan...”

Even Tanya was sticking closely around his feet, and that it made even more difficult to walk. Shin only let out a troubled smile.

Suddenly, a 7-foot tall, large-built man obstructed their path. He only wears some pants maybe to show off his muscles and upper body. He also has a great sword on his back that was equally just as large.

“Yo, niichan… Ya got some fine lass there. Introduce us will ya?” The man looked at Yuffa with a devious smile.

Yuffa shook her head vehemently.

“Sorry. She doesn’t want to.” said Shin.

““Yahaha! Boss got rejected!”” The group of people most likely the man’s subordinate laughed at him. The man glares at them angrily which made them immediately go silent. You could hear a few of them swallow out of fear...

“So, how ‘bout it?”

“But she just said no?” replied Shin.

Hearing his carefree reply, it made a vein popped in the man’s temple.

“Y’see. I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of many people. So how ‘bout you just walk away and leave the girl here. I will take care of her. I promise.” The man licked his mouth maliciously causing Yuffa to twitch.

Shin looked at Yuffa again and saw her shook her head even more. He then looked towards the man while gesturing at Yuffa like he was saying “See?”.

Looking at Shin’s carefree attitude, the man draw even closer, too close that his nose almost touched Shin’s.

“You seem awfully relaxed, huh?! Do you understand the situation?”

“A-albert-san. Please let them be. I-I think they are new here--” A man from the crowd spoke up, but then turned silent when the man called Albert turned his face towards him.

The man looked at Shin again and spoke in a threatening tone.

“You’ve guts I’ll give you that. But my fist might give you some sense.” The man clinched his fist.

Starting to feel annoyed, Shin still spoke in a calm tone.

“We just want to register as an adventurer. So, can you please let us go?”

“How ‘bout…. No.” The man smiled at Shin mockingly

“Are you sure?”

“Sure as hell.”

“Not a single ounce of consideration?”

“Not…One…bit.”

Shin is on his last straw but still asked the man politely, “Please?”.

“No.” The man responded.

Shin was denied immediately.

This might leave me a bad reputation but oh well. Said Shin in the back of his mind.

In the blink of an eye, the man’s entire body disappeared. Afterwards, a sound of breaking glass together with an explosion was heard, leaving only Shin with his right arm thrusted sideways with a hint of smoking off of it.

The people in the Guild didn’t comprehend what happened immediately. Shin’s action was too fast for them to see what he did.

In reality, Shin summoned his dragon gauntlet for a split second in his arm and swung it sideways. He only intended to knock him unconscious, but the result wasn’t nearly as he expected.

The man flew at full speed, crashed into the wall of the Guild, and was comically buried in it.

Moments later, they were shocked after they saw the man’s body was buried under the wall.

Their mouth opened wide in shock. The man called Albert had a quite the build yet he flew like he was an arrow shot from a fully strung bow.

Everyone was still in shock, but a voice returned them to their senses.

“Splendid.”

The voice and the sound of a pair of hands clapping, came from a man who was looking at them while on the stairs that led up to the second floor. It was an elderly man with a beard that extended down to his chest.